sleepnow
by thisloser
Summary: At three in the morning Konoha is a cold and lonely place.


**Title:** sleepnow

**Rating:** G

**Timeline:** Pre-Canon

**Notes:** written for the 24-hour meme at naruto_meme on LJ, this version is a little different, though. Prompt was: Things that happen in Konoha at three a.m.

* * *

Sarutobi Hiruzen was the last person to leave the Hokage tower at the stroke of 3 A.M. Head bowed, trapped in a maze of his own thoughts, he walked home where his wife and youngest son would already be asleep in their beds.

Regrets, shapeless and numerous, weighed heavy on his shoulders as he walked through the shadows which transformed the place he had sworn to protect at any cost.

Any cost, including his own life, his wife's life, his sons'.

All the more reason to choose his own successor carefully and, more importantly, to begin the search soon, you never knew how much time you had left until it was too late.

For the whole duration of the meeting, he had found himself wishing his teacher had not declared him Hokage in the midst of battle, wishing he'd been prepared for this kind of decision in advance. It made sacrificing your life for the village seem like the easy way.

With that thought bearing down on his mind, he sought out his youngest son immediately upon returning home, driven to the child's room by the vague sense of doom that had haunted him ever since he'd opened that damned mission report.

As expected -but still much to his relief-he found Asuma in his bed, sleeping like the proverbial baby he had long stopped being. The boy had just passed his academy exam and was now a Genin; soon he would go on more than just D-Rank missions. Hiruzen himself would send him to fight.

And maybe one day he would come back with a report just like the one that had caused this nightly disciplinary meeting, and on that day Sarutobi Hiruzen wouldn't be able to call him a traitor either, no matter how much the likes of Danzo wanted him to.

Tonight, Hiruzen had shown compassion, knowing that most people in the village wouldn't.

* * *

At 3 in the morning a former ANBU captain, recently demoted to jounin sensei (and no matter how the Third put it, he knew a demotion when he was on the receiving end of one), stood at the gates to the Hyuuga compound and hesitated. He wanted nothing more than to go to bed and forget all about the unpleasant hearing for a few blissful hours of sleep at least, and yet…

And yet he had that feeling again, the pesky one, the one that told him he had better check the training grounds, and once he had that feeling – premonition, really – he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep until he'd done it, but if he did, and his suspicion proved right, he would feel obligated to go there to retrieve his burden.

But what choice did he have? This was his mission now, running after little brats who had more energy than sense. He didn't like it, but unlike other people he still knew that the mission always came first, no matter how you _felt_about it.

He activated his Byakugan.

_Of course._

So, he went reluctantly, trying not to think too much about the previous hours and the endless talk that had filled the big room like clouds of smoke while _he_, the fallen hero, just sat there looking like he was slowly being smothered.

It was a strange sensation, losing that much respect for someone you used to admire, and in such a short amount of time.

Still, _he_ was lucky, a Hyuuga would not have got away with bringing this kind of dishonor to his name. To run away from a mission like a coward, dishonoring the ones who were ready to do their duty and give their lives in the process? The clan would have killed him in a heartbeat.  
Especially if he was a branch member like himself.

There would have been no disciplinary hearing, no discussions. (And maybe, in some way, that would have been a mercy.)

But Sandaime-sama was a gentle man. Some might even say soft.

He took one last leap and landed neatly next to the bundle on the ground. He stared at it, the night feeling colder now that he wasn't running anymore.

Sighing, he took off his vest… and stopped himself mid-motion. This was the kind of behavior that bred the kind of weakness they'd all witnessed earlier. Besides, his student had disobeyed his direct orders; the kid should be punished, not coddled.

He put his vest back on and gave the boy a kick that had him jerk awake and scramble onto his feet in an instant.

"If I were an enemy, you would be dead now," he informed Gai coolly. "What did I tell you about sleeping out in the open?"

"Ummm…" Gai blinked, rubbing his eyes, clearly unable to remember anything he had been told. To cover up his stupidity, the kid immediately launched into an even more foolish routine. "If you were an enemy, I would fight you! With my new moves!" Gai punched the air to illustrate. The bandages on his hands had come loose; his knuckles were caked in dried blood the color of rust.

"Because I'm Konoha's mighty green beast!" Gai shouted, one fist raised above his head.

_More childishness._

"You're Konoha's biggest idiot," he said but- to his own surprise -without rancor. Maybe he was just too tired. "Come on, your hands need disinfecting." He put his hand on the back of Gai's neck – so skinny, one could snap it like a twig – and led the boy back to his tiny living quarters at the compound.

There would still be time for punishment in the morning.

* * *

When the display of his alarm clock read 3:00 Kakashi still wasn't asleep. His was waiting, his heart a tight lump in his chest. Without knowing anything, he knew.

He had known since his father had returned from his mission in the morning, far earlier than he should have. He had known that something was wrong then, but his father had said nothing.

Then he had left again, but not before ruffling Kakashi's hair the way he only did before going on a mission.

But there was no mission. There was something else. He had heard it in the whispers in the street; he'd seen it in the shadows flitting across the people who saw him walk past.  
Everything was different now; everything was all wrong.

Kakashi heard the door and squeezed his eyes shut. Then his father's footsteps resounded through the whole house, leaden. They came to a halt in front of the door to Kakashi's room.

The moment stretched into eternity then snapped back into the fraction of a second as the door was slid open, gently to avoid any noise.

He could barely hear his father's approach, but he could feel him in the room, in the way his presence seemed to reshape the air around them, his breath and heartbeat pulsing through it, making Kakashi feel like nothing more than his faint echo.

He could feel his father looming over him; he could picture him there next to his bed, one hand outstretched, the fingertips just shy of brushing Kakashi's cheek.

_It's okay,_ Kakashi wanted to say, _you can go to sleep, I'll watch over you from now on._

But he dared not speak, and the moment passed.


End file.
